IUCN threat status:

Brief Summary

For most of the 20th century, the Red-naped Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus nuchalis), the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (S. varius), and the Red-breasted Sapsucker (S. ruber) were treated as belonging to a single species, S. varius(sometimes the Red-breasted Sapsucker was excluded). The three species are very similar, including genetically, and Red-naped Sapsuckers hybridize extensively with Red-breasted Sapsuckers (and, to a lesser extent, with Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers), but data on mating preferences has supported their status as biological species. (Howell 1952; Scott et al. 1976; Johnson and Johnson 1985; Cicero and Johnson 1995).

The Red-naped Sapsucker, which breeds across much of the western third of the United States and adjacent Canada, looks very similar to the eastern Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, but has a variable red patch on the back of the head, more extensive red on the male's throat, and red on the female's throat (absent from Yellow-bellied Sapsucker female's throat).

Red-naped Sapsuckers are common in summer in deciduous and mixed forests, especially around Quaking Aspens (Populus tremuloides), in the Great Basin and Rocky Mountain ranges, with a small number in the Sierra Nevada. They are rare west of the Sierra Nevada and very rare in the Pacific Northwest and west of the Cascades (where Red-breasted Sapsuckers are common). They occur casually east to the western Great Plains. They winter from southern California, southern Nevada, and central Arizona and New Mexico south to central Mexico.